"To Confess or Not"

For Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Lectionary Scripture - Psalms 32 (NRSV)

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Selah) Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah) Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. (Selah) I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

To Confess or Not

Chris Haslam’s commentary for the above lectionary scripture notes that the psalmist tells us what he has learned in life, i.e. that happiness is having one’s sin forgiven and taken away by God. With such an undertaking, the psalmist witnesses the benefits of a clear conscience and renewed health. For the distress involved with covering one’s sin is so consuming that it eats away at one’s well-being and easily makes a person ill. In time -- without relief -- it brings on diseases wrought by stress, isolation, and alienation. But when sin is acknowledged, discontinued and forgiven, life becomes renewed and one enjoys new sources of energy for daily living. It’s particularly true if from the point of confession one can allow oneself to be led in God’s way through God’s instruction and counsel rather having to be coaxed or coerced like a stubborn horse or mule whose behavior must be curbed with bit and bridle. As Haslam puts it, “Use your initiative in being open to God” and then rejoice over the blessings that come your way.

Confession and its importance are at the center of what the psalmist and Haslam write. Some faith traditions honor and provide sacred ritual for meeting this need while other faith traditions experience discomfort with it or avoid it altogether. Those uncomfortable with it tend to act as though the need for confession doesn’t exist. For me, I can’t say that I have any conclusive or authoritative position on the matter but what I have observed over 34 years as an ordained minister is this:  Those who are uncomfortable with confession, especially before one’s community, are individuals who need confession most.

Yes, I’ve heard countless complaints from parishioners when serving as a pastor how we ought to get rid of the sharing time before morning worship. How there shouldn’t be a time for people to openly share how God is blessing their lives nor a time to ask for prayer, either for oneself or others, because all it leads to is embarrassing comments or an excuse to gossip later. Yet in all the years I have been a pastor, I experienced precious little of such things. And if embarrassing things or inappropriate things or unjust things happened it tended to come from those persons living in denial of their own need for confession or “Come to Jesus” moments. For me, my thought is this, “What is more embarrassing or unjust when a soul cries out for confession and the sanctimonious in our midst won’t allow it because it offends their sensibilities?”

What I and many of my fellow congregants experience instead is the person making confession who we actively nurtured toward a healthier and more complete lifestyle. For instance, the young woman who took a chance on visiting our faith community and who a few months later “confessed” that her faith journey had been mostly televangelists. She had not experienced community like ours before. In time, she chose to become a full member of that community. In time, she met the love of her life, a member of our international community. In time, she moved overseas to be with him. Soon they will marry and embark on a whole new adventure.

What I have also experienced are the prayer requests for someone in our community who relapsed back into their addiction and how children had to be taken out of the home, but then that person returns to recovery and after a hard journey to get it right this time re-obtains custody of the children. And then that individual “confesses” during the sharing time before worship the mess their life had been and the gratitude they feel for a faith community that did what had to be done to protect the children and how with “bit and bridle” the relapsed person was forced to confront the consequences of relapse.

Or how about the “confession” of marital infidelity by a Thanksgiving guest at our holiday table who acknowledged with much gratefulness the friendship and support we had extended during such a troubling time. As we continued on around the table expressing thankfulness prior to prayer over the meal, I marveled at the individual’s courage to acknowledge the damage inflicted on family and friends and how from that point forward honesty and openness would be the fabric of life.

While I can understand that a time of confession might be challenging or even unworkable for a worshipping community of hundreds or thousands, a previous presiding officer in my tradition put it best as to why we need room for confession in our faith communities and his words make sense when one considers the life examples above:

I remain convinced that some opportunity for worshipers to acknowledge their sinfulness and dependence on God, and to be assured of God’s forgiveness, is vital to authentic worship. Confession is that humble expression of vulnerability that allows us to experience our deep connectedness with God and others. Without confession, life in community becomes grounded in self and ego and fosters an environment where competition and barriers persist. -- Peter Judd, “Up Front,” Herald, March 2003

Uncomfortable with confession? Then try a bit of vulnerability and honesty about your ego needs, your competition needs, and the barriers those needs create for you, others, and even your faith community. Give it a shot and try it, you might just like it.  For the holes in our souls will only be healed where confession and the importance of confession are honored, affirmed, protected, and upheld.  In the places where such things be, therein exists God’s Peaceable Kingdom.

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